


Bickering with the Echoes of the Soul (Howl)

by Wolvesandwerewolves



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, Klaus is not immortal, is this sad? Kinda
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-17
Updated: 2020-06-17
Packaged: 2021-03-04 03:15:49
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 713
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24766810
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wolvesandwerewolves/pseuds/Wolvesandwerewolves
Summary: Klaus is gone, and Ben is alone.
Relationships: Ben Hargreeves & Klaus Hargreeves
Comments: 8
Kudos: 69





	Bickering with the Echoes of the Soul (Howl)

Klaus is gone. 

He’s gone, and now, Ben’s not really sure what to do with himself. The one sibling that could talk to him for years and now he’s suddenly gone. He’s _gone_. And it hurts. He’s alone now, and Klaus might be in heaven, or he might be in hell, but he’s not a ghost, because Ben can’t see him. He’s not _here_.

_(“At least not yet,” a small voice in his head says, scared and hopeful. Ben doesn’t even remember his own death. Maybe it takes a while. “He’s not here, yet.”) _

Klaus is dead, and Ben is more of a ghost than he ever has been before. He’s lonely. He’s _alone_. All those spirits wandering around, gone mad, latching onto the only person who could see them in ages suddenly makes more sense to him than it has since the moment he died and he _hates it._ He’s selfish and afraid for himself. He misses his brother.

He can’t just sit there, staring at Klaus’s too still body, pale, bloody, and half naked.

So he follows the detective out of the room, barely blinking as officers pass through him like electricity, on their way to inspect the crime scene. There’s a hollow feeling in his chest. The skin of his abdomen wrinkles and moves as the Horror uncoils and twists. It’s unnatural and it feels like it. He feels awful for leaving Klaus, but his brother isn’t there. 

And if he was, he’d probably be making fun of Ben, joking around and complaining about something stupid. 

Ben pulls his hood up, crosses his arms and silently continues to follow the detective. He’s not sure what else to do. She’s talking to another officer, then pauses, sighs. 

“Do me a favor, will you?” she asks. “When you’re done taking pictures and processing, tell me if there’s an umbrella tattoo on the underside of his wrist. I’ve got a bad feeling about this.” 

Ben pauses, stepping closer. How does she know about the academy?

“Think he’s related to Diego?” 

_Oh,_ Ben thinks. _She’s one of Diego’s friends._

Good. Maybe his family will finally come looking for them.

“Maybe. He said something earlier about his brother being missing. I just don’t like this.” 

_Or maybe they’re already looking,_ Ben thinks.

The thought should help, at least. That Klaus was wrong. It should help, to think of their other siblings, worried about Klaus, grieving for Klaus. It doesn’t. The knot in his stomach twists tighter.

The other guy nods, seems sympathetic. “I’ll let you know as soon as I do, Patch.” 

Patch sighs, grimaces and nods. “Thanks. I’m gonna go call him. I’ll be right back.”

He follows her as she makes her way through the busy parking lot, overcrowded with officers and other police official people. There’s three police cars and an ambulance, sitting in the parking lot. People crowd around, necks craned to get a good look at what’s happening, whispering and murmuring to each other as lights flash red and blue.

Towards the front of the horde, briefcase in hand, are the people who did this. Staring out at everything, watching it go down. Their faces are blank, almost bored. The man—Hazel, the one who pulled the trigger—is standing there eating a donut. Like nothing ever happened. Like he didn’t just kill Ben’s brother in cold blood, after hours of torturing him for information they never got. 

The Horror crawl underneath his skin. They’re twitchy tonight. So is he. But they’re both dead, and so is Klaus, and he can’t do anything. So he turns, going back to Detective Patch and does his best to ignore his brother’s killers. 

He passes through the closed door to the motel lobby. Patch is already on the phone, leaning against the side of the desk. She’s tapping her foot, fingers twisting in the cord of the phone, mouth pursed in a lopsided frown.

“Diego’s on his way, then? Alright. Thank you.” She hangs up, then shakes her head, sighing.

“It’s gonna be a long night,” she mutters to herself, pushing the door open and walking back out into the crowded night. Ben stands there, staring after her. 

“Yeah,” he says quietly. No one hears him. His brother is dead. “It already is.” 


End file.
